Here are some thoughts as you think about how you’re going to watch the Pats-Giants game on three different networks tomorrow night:
- I would be slightly offended if I were a New York Giants fan who decided to make some money by selling my season ticket to tomorrow’s game to a Patriots fan. The team apparently doesn’t care for my financial support, so next time I might not buy the ticket at all. I’m sure the Giants’ PR team is ready to hurt Brandon Jacobs and Justin Tuck, who were quoted in the article.
- My Christmas/birthday haul included some DVDs, games, books, and other such things that have taken my time away from working on this site. You’ve probably noticed (or not) that I’ve been a bit light on content lately, but I plan to pick things back up in the new year.
- Last night, I became a Netflix subscriber after having toyed with the idea for a while. I’m going to use it to catch up movies I should have seen in the past, and I might chime in with a review of either a movie or the service from time to time.
- The more popular some of the 2008 Presidential candidates become, the more dirt we get on them. I guess that’s part of the process, and possibly an agonizing one for the revolving door of Republican favorites. While the top three Democrats have remained the same for some time (Clinton, Obama, Edwards), the Republicans have seen McCain, Giuliani, Romney, and Huckabee take turns in the limelight. Ron Paul, whose candidacy has mostly flown under the radar, except on the internet, may be next. Here’s a little tidbit from Think Progress showing one way that Paul, while sometimes refreshingly libertarian, is also a little scary.
That’s all I have. See you in the new year.
jfwiii.net 
Re: Ron Paul’s 1992 statements
It is a statistical fact that black people commit violent crimes at a rate over five times that of white people. Stating that fact does not, in my opinion, constitute racism.
The explanation for that statistical fact is not that black people are inherently more evil than white people (which would be about as racist as it gets). It’s that underprivileged people are more likely to commit violent crimes, and, unfortunately, black people are more likely to be underprivileged than white people.
It’s possible that Ron Paul’s statements are nothing worse than a poor expression of my statements above. However, if that’s the case, then the onus was on him to make his meaning clear when the issue was a sensitive one, and he certainly failed to do that.
Of course, I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt here. I won’t deny the possibility that he might just be a bigot.
I agree with you on this: stating that more black people commit violent crimes is a statistical fact and is not racist. I don’t even think the second part of his statement (the second bold part that was emphasized by Think Progress) is racist. It is not irrational or evil to be more afraid of black men than any other race or sex.
What bothers me is his willingness to extend that rational belief any further. His exaggeration, “we can safely assume that 95% of the black males in that city [L.A.] are semi-criminal or entirely criminal,” is dangerous from a civil rights perspective. While that was possibly said in jest, it’s not the type of thing you say if you want people to trust you and elect you President.
Right, the 95% statement is absurd. It demonstrates either, poor logic, prejudice, or at best, an inability to judge what is and is not appropriate to joke about in public.
Of course, I’m guessing he didn’t know he’d eventually be running for president when he made that statement 15 years ago, though that certainly doesn’t excuse it.